


Oh but heaven don't hear me

by EponineTheStrange (gallifreyandglowclouds)



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-07
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-14 04:50:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/832941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gallifreyandglowclouds/pseuds/EponineTheStrange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: There's a fire at the BBC studios and they can't find Karen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh but heaven don't hear me

There’s probably a reason that fire drills are practiced, Matt thinks as he hustles out of the BBC studios after the alarm goes off during filming, and he realises that reason when he’s standing across the street and watching smoke pour out of the building. You never know when one of those drills is going to be real.

Matt does a mental accounting of people - he sees Arthur, and he sees Alex, but… no Karen.

Well, there’s a crowd of people looking on in awe. Maybe she’s among them. He gives it another few minutes.

She still doesn’t show up, and suddenly he ends up wanting to do something stupid and go back in there and get her, because he doesn’t want to lose her. Not now, not ever.

He starts to make his way back towards the building, and Arthur grabs him by the collar. “What are you doing?”

“Karen’s in there,” Matt says, and then tries to turn away from Arthur and make his way towards the building.

“This is why we have a fire brigade,” Arthur says. “They’ll get her out,  Matt.” There’s an edge of hysteria to his voice though, and the hand that is holding on to Matt’s collar is shaking a little.     

“I’m going in and getting her,” Matt says, and decisively turns away from Arthur, which breaks his grip on his collar. 

* * *

The whole idea of being Karen’s rescuer seems a lot better up until the point where Matt opens the door and a whole bunch of smoke comes out. (He’ll learn later that he’s lucky it wasn’t flames.) 

“Kaz!” He yells, and he sure hopes that she can hear him because he can’t seem a damn thing. “Kaz! Where are you?” He coughs when he inhales smoke, but something propels him forward, even though he’s not really sure where the door that he came in is anymore. 

By some form of magic, he ends up in the TARDIS room, and he can just make out the outline of a person on the ground, and as he gets down on his hands and knees, he can see that it’s Karen. 

“Kaz,” he says, with difficulty as he crawls towards her, “Kaz, I’m here. I’m going to get you of here, okay?” 

She doesn’t move, and Matt’s heart is in his throat. He pinches her arm, which seems to make her look up at him. 

“Come on,” he says, and drags her in the general direction of the door. She starts to crawl behind him with difficulty, and the smoke is now so thick that he can barely see her. 

He’s struggling to move forward too, and he’s suddenly not sure if either of them are going to make it out alive.

“Come on, we can do this, keep going,” he gasps, and she’s unconscious behind him now. He’s dragging her along, but he can’t move either, and the last thing he sees before everything goes dark is a white, beaming light. 

* * *

When Matt wakes up in the hospital, it occurs to him that he didn’t see the proverbial ‘light’, but a fireman’s torch. He’s not intubated, which is good, but he’s got the mother of all headaches and his throat feels like it’s on fire. 

“You,” Arthur says from where he’s standing in the doorway, “are a massive idiot, and incredibly lucky to be alive.” 

“How’s Karen?” Matt asks. 

“Alive, as far as we all know. But not conscious. She inhaled a lot more of the bad stuff than you did, so she’s intubated and sedated. “

 Matt sighs and puts his head in his hands. So much for heroism. After everything, she’s still lying unconscious in a hospital room and he can’t do anything. 

“Can I see her?” Matt asks. 

Arthur shrugs. “That’s up to the doctors and nurses. And, speak of the devil…” A nurse comes in to check Matt out, and Arthur leaves. 

* * *

After several days of impassioned pleading, Matt is finally allowed to go see Karen. Though she’s conscious, she’s still under heavy sedation, but at least she isn’t intubated any more. 

He sits down by her bed and holds her hand. That makes her open her eyes and turn her head towards him. 

“You… okay?” She asks, with some difficulty. 

“Been better,” Matt says. “At least they’re going to discharge me soon.” 

She smiles. “Come… visit.” 

“Every day.” He smiles, even though it feels hollow, because she’s out of the woods in theory, but he would wager that she’s got a long recovery ahead.

“Matt, thanks.” 

“For what?” 

“Saving.. me.” Those four words seem to sap all of her existing energy, and her eyes close again. 

He has to inhale deeply several times before he can answer, because there are tears in his eyes and right now, he has to be strong. 

“Anything for you, Kaz. Anything.” 


End file.
